James McQuillen, The Oregonian, 12th October 2014
“Francis has earned a reputation as a conductor superhero, stepping in at the last minute for one orchestra after another and leading brilliant performances as though he’d been rehearsing with them for weeks. Affable and unflappable, he has a terrific rapport with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, for which […]
Stephanie Hayes, Tampa Bay Times, 2nd October 2014
Autumn has just begun, but for the Florida Orchestra, it may as well be the season of spring.
It’s a time of renewal and budding relationships for the orchestra, which has spent two seasons reeling and healing from the abrupt, early departure of music director Stefan Sanderling. When […]
Robert Egerton, Musical America, 30th September 2014
San Diego’s Mainly Mozart Festival has appointed British conductor Michael Francis as its new music director, succeeding festival co-founder David Atherton, who exited last year at the close of his (and the festival’s)…
Mareile Hanns, Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten, 29th September 2014
“…The Dresden Philharmonic had it well and truly in their grasp, together with the young English conductor Michael Francis. He delivered as an inspiring orchestral leader relying on subtlety and expressivity who knew exactly how best to convey his understanding of the timbres and structural characteristics.
Edward Elgar’s […]
Jens-Uwe Sommerschuh, Sächsische Zeitung, 29th September 2014
“…Francis let the Philharmonic rage and struggle and directed them towards a desolate and yet delicate pianissimo at the finish [of Vaughan William’s 6th Symphony in E-Minor] which faded into nothing. Thundering applause for such expert endeavours.”
James Chute, U-T San Diego, 27th September 2014
“British conductor Michael Francis is the new music director of the San Diego Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra.
Mainly Mozart made the announcement Saturday at a gathering in Rancho Santa Fe for Club Amadeus, a group of the festival’s primary patrons. Francis has signed a three-year contract and his […]
Paul Corfield Godfrey, Seen and Heard International, 25th September 2014
“The programme for Janáček’s symphonic fantasy Taras Bulba is of a violent barbarism which makes Game of Thrones look like Paddington Bear, with each of its three movements describing the grisly death of a member of the same Cossack family. Nevertheless Janáček’s music manages to […]
Rian Evans, The Guardian, 24th September 2014
★★★★
“Works by Janáček and his Czech compatriot Bohuslav Martinů framed this concert given by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Janáček’s programmatic symphony poem Taras Bulba tells the grisly tale of the eponymous leader of the Zaporozhye Cossacks, and under the baton of Michael Francis, the picture of […]
Nicola Heywood Thomas, BBC Radio 3, 23rd September 2013
Duration: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Available until 29th September 2014
Nicola Heywood Thomas introduces a live concert by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales from BBC Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff, with music by French and Czech composers, also celebrating the BBC Singers at 90. Janacek’s rhapsody tells the […]
John Fleming, Classical Voice North America, 12th September 2014
“And then there were four. Over the past couple of years, the largest professional orchestras in Florida all carried out music director searches in the same time frame.
Two of the ensembles – the Naples Philharmonic and the Sarasota Orchestra – had new artistic leadership under contract […]
